As students return to classes on August 22, teachers across the district will be well prepared to start instruction utilizing a variety of instructional materials, even though some textbooks will not be delivered to the district until sometime in September.

Among items finalized at the close of the 82nd Legislative Session was the creation of Senate Bill 6, the Instructional Materials Allotment for Texas public schools. Because of the brief period of time between the end of the legislative session and the start of classes, implementation of this new system will cause a delay in the delivery of some textbooks to school districts this fall. Katy ISD is well prepared, however, as the district’s classrooms are equipped with numerous additional teaching tools.

“While the new allotment could mean that some classes may start on August 22 without a full library of textbooks, we are confident that teachers will have ample instructional resources to ensure that students receive quality instructional experiences in our classrooms,” says Dr. Christine Caskey, Katy ISD Chief Academic Officer.

The Katy ISD curriculum does not rely solely on textbooks, but emphasizes the use of a number of resources in the classroom, including online resources, literature libraries, Web 2.0 tools, printed materials and many other hands-on learning devices.

“Until the books arrive, we will accommodate campuses with what we have in our warehouse, and stock shelves with classroom sets of textbooks,” says Linda McKay, Katy ISD Textbook Specialist.

For more information about the 2011-2012 academic year, visit www.katyisd.org.